Vehicle propulsion mechanism.



No. 693,956.. Patented Feb. 25, i902;

F. nuuuemn. f v VEHICLE APROPULSION MECHANISM.

(Application tiled June l, 1901.)

(No Model.)

w 1 m L@ f3 E? L# wie dill UNITED STATES vPATENT OFFICE.

FREDERIC. DUQUEMIN, OF FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS.

VEHICLE PROPULSION MECHANISM.

SI- ECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 693,956, dated February 25, 1902.

Application iiled .Tune l, 1901. Serial No. 62,722. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERIC DUQUEMIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fall River, in the county of Bristol and Stateof Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Vehicle Propulsion Mechanism, of which lhe following is a specification.

This invention relates generally to vehicles, and more particularly to improved means for propelling the same.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple construction whereby the oscillation or rocking of thepassenger-seat will operate the propelling mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to provide for throwing the propelling mechanism into or out of operation; and a still further object is to provide for braking the vehicle simultaneously with throwing the mechanism ont of gear.

With these and other objects which appear hereinafter the invention consists in the peculiar construction of the various parts and in their novel combination or arrangement, all of which will be fully described hereinafter and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming part of this specifcation, Figure I is a sectional elevation taken on the line l l of Fig. 2 looking in the direction ofthe arrow. Fig. 2 is a sectionalV plan View, the directionbeing the reverse to that shown in Fig. l.

In carrying out my invention I employ the rear wheels A, connected to the axle A', and the front wheels B, connected to the axle B. The side beams C and central beams D are connected at their rear ends to the rear axle' A and at their forwardl ends are connected to a bolster B2, which'is pivotally connected to the axle B by means of the king-bolt B3. The forward axle has a forwardly-projecting axle B4, to which is rigidly attached a steering-bar B5, having stirrups B6 at its opposite end to receive the feet of the operator.

E represents the seat, which is supported at each side by a pair of rocker-arms E', the upper ends of said arms being pivotally attached to the bottom of the seat, the lower ends of said arms being pivotally connected to the upper ends of the cross-bars E2, the lower ends of said cross-bars being pivotally connected to clips E3, which are securely fasvwardly.

tened to the side beams C at suitable points. The rocker-arms E are pivotally connected at E4; but the cross-bars E2 are not pivotally connected together,but work past each other with a sliding movement. A pitman E is attached tothe bottom of the seat E, at the rear thereof, said pitman being connected atits lower end to a crank-shaft'G, said crank-shaft being journaled upon the central beams D adjacent to their rear ends, and has one or more balance-arms G mounted upon its ends, said arms having weights or balls G2 arranged upon theironter ends, one ball G3 beinglarger and heavier than the others to overcome deadcenters. The pitman Fis preferably formed of two sections, the upper section F being tubular and the lower one F2 being solid and telescoping into the tubular one, said sections being held in their adjusted positions by means of 'a locking-pin F3. A sprocket-wheel I-I is mounted upon the crank-shaft G and operates a chain I,which engages a sprocket K,mounted upon a shaft L, journaled upon the central beams D adjacent to their forward ends. This shaft L also has a sprocket-wheel M mounted thereon,which engages a drive-chain N,which operates the sprocket O, rigidly mounted upon the rear axle A, and inasmuch as the rear wheels A are rigidly mounted upon the rear axle it will be readily seen that by rocking or oscillating the seat the pitman operates the counter-shaft, and the counter-shaft rotates the rear axle by means of the sprocket and drive-chain, and the vehicle is propelled for- In practice I'prefer to make the sprocket M a multiple sprocket, and likewise the sprocket O, so that by shifting the chain N the speed. of the vehicle can be varied as desired. The sprocket-wheel K is preferably mounted loosely upon the shaft L, and in order to connect it with the said shaft I employ a clutch L', operated by means of a rodL2,whicl1 rod is connected to a lever L3, pivotally connected at its lower end by means of a ball-and-A socket joint L4. The lever L3 also has a rod L5 attaehed thereto, which rod is pivotally connected to the brake-lever L6, so that'when the hand-lever L8 is operated to throw the clutch L into engagement with the sprocket the brake is removed from the rear wheel; but when the hand-lever is operated so as to crank-shaft, and this in turn operates the the motion of the Vehicle.

` irow the clutch out of engagement and dis- Jnnect the driving mechanism the brakelever is then applied, thereby serving'to stop As before stated, the feet of the operator rest in the stirrups BG, and by means of which the vehicle is steered, and in order to accommodate persons of different sizes the clips E3 are adjustable upon the side beams, thereby raising or lowering the position of the seat, and the pitman is also adjusted at thesame time.

In operation the operator sits in the seat E and places his feet in the stirrups B6. The entire weight of the body is then thrown upon the back of the seat, thereby forcing the pitinan downwardly and operating the crankshaft. This starts the operating mechanism,

and by continuing to rock or oscillate the seat the vehicle can bel rapidly propelled in a forward direction.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a device of the kind described, the

combination with the supporting-frame,of the oscillating seat, the rocking arms attached to the said seat and pivotally connected to each other', the cross-arms pivotally connected at their upper ends to the rocker-arms and adjustably connected at their lower ends to the supporting-frame, the adjustable pitman, the crank-shaft and means for transmitting motion of the crank-shaft to the rear axle, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the kind described, the combination with a driving mechanism, including the shaft L and a clutch-section arranged thereon, sprockets K and M mounted thereon, one of which :is normally loose and adapted to be clutched to the shaft, of the brake-lever, the hand-lever and rods for connecting the clutch and brake-lever with the hand'lever, substantially as shown and described.

FREDERIC DUQUEMIN. lVitnesses:

I JOHN COX,

FRANCK COME. 

